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Salt Marsh - Cumberland Island
ST. MARYS, GEORGIA

NPS Land Swaps and Visitor Plan Open the Door to Devastating Impacts at Cumberland Island

In advance of a public hearing on proposed land exchanges on Cumberland Island National Seashore, Defenders of Wildlife called on the National Park Service to remedy a host of management issues facing one of the largest undeveloped barrier islands on the East Coast.
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2019.08.07 - Florida Panther looking straight at camera - MS 45 - fStop Foundation
WASHINGTON, D.C.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Memo Underscores Trump Administration’s All-Fronts War on Wildlife

Brian Nesvik, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a memorandum explaining to FWS staff that the Endangered Species Act’s prohibition on unauthorized “take” applies only to affirmative acts intentionally and purposefully directed at a particular animal. This follows the Trump administration’s rescission of the regulatory definitions of “harm” under the ESA, which took effect this week.
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A close up of the face of a Sierra Nevada Red Fox at the edge of a forest in Deschutes County, Oregon.
Washington, D.C.

Court Rules Habitat Must Be Protected After FWS Attempts to Waive Protections for Less Than 40 Sierra Nevada Red Fox

Defenders of Wildlife earned a significant victory for the Endangered Species Act today when a federal district court found that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to not designate critical habitat for the endangered Sierra Nevada red fox was a violation of the law.

Press Releases

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Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl
Tucson, Ariz.

Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl May Get Protected Again

As part of a lawsuit, the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife today obtained a court-enforceable deadline — Aug. 5, 2021 — for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether the pygmy owl should again be protected as an endangered species.
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Southern_Resident_Orca
Seattle, WA

Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force Releases Final Year Two Report to Gov. Inslee

Washington’s Southern Resident Orca Recovery Task Force today released the final version of its recommendations in year two for saving southern resident orcas from extinction.
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Organ-pipe-cactus-national-monument

ADVISORY: Rally to Stop the Border Wall, Save Organ Pipe National Monument

Supporters of Organ Pipe and those who oppose a border wall slashing through this precious and sacred land are taking a stand.
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California-spotted-owl
Washington, DC

California Spotted Owl Denied Critical Federal Protections

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that it will deny the California spotted owl federal Endangered Species Act protections.
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Florida panther
Collier County, FL

Panther Killed by Vehicle Collision in Collier County, Site of Future Toll Roads

An 8 to 10-week-old female Florida panther was killed by a vehicle on State Route 29 at Owl Hammock curve just south of Immokalee in Collier County, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The news comes only months after Governor DeSantis signed a bill authorizing the construction of three new toll highways, one of which would stretch through some of the endangered panther’s last remaining habitats in Collier County.
Senior Vice President, External Affairs
lsheehan@defenders.org
(202) 772-3244
Communications Director
mdewane@defenders.org
(202) 772-0217
Communications Specialist
jcovey@defenders.org
Communications Specialist
kirby@defenders.org
(202) 772-3268
Communications Specialist
estern@defenders.org
202-772-0243